Gerontion. Gerontion: Poem by T.S Eliot 2022-12-21
Gerontion Rating:
5,3/10
1320
reviews
Diktat is a German word that means "dictation" or "dictatorship." It is often used to refer to the harsh terms imposed on a defeated country by the victors in a war. In the context of Germany, the term diktat is most commonly associated with the Treaty of Versailles, which was signed at the end of World War I in 1919.
The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty between the Allied Powers (led by France, the United Kingdom, and the United States) and Germany. It was meant to bring an end to the war and to establish the terms under which the defeated Germany would be forced to pay reparations to the Allied Powers. The treaty also imposed severe limitations on Germany's military and territorial expansion.
Many Germans viewed the Treaty of Versailles as a diktat, or dictate, because they felt that the terms were imposed on them by the victorious Allies without any input from the German government or people. The treaty was seen as extremely harsh and punitive, and many Germans felt that their country had been humiliated and treated unfairly.
The resentment and anger that many Germans felt towards the Treaty of Versailles played a significant role in the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in the 1920s and 1930s. Hitler and the Nazis promised to restore Germany's honor and power, and they used the treaty as a rallying cry to mobilize support for their cause. Hitler came to power in 1933, and he quickly set about tearing up the Treaty of Versailles and rebuilding the German military. This ultimately led to World War II, which ended with the defeat of Germany and the imposition of another set of harsh terms in the form of the Potsdam Agreement.
In conclusion, the term diktat is closely associated with the Treaty of Versailles and its impact on Germany following World War I. Many Germans saw the treaty as a dictate imposed on them by the victorious Allies, and the resentment and anger that it generated played a significant role in the rise of the Nazi Party and the outbreak of World War II.
Gerontion Summary
The woman keeps the kitchen, makes tea, Sneezes at evening, poking the peevish gutter. Gives too soon Into weak hands, what's thought can be dispensed with Till the refusal propagates a fear. Silvero With caressing hands, at Limoges Who walked all night in the next room; By Hakagawa, bowing among the Titians; By Madame de Tornquist , in the dark room Shifting the candles ; Fraulein von Kulp Who turned in the hall, one hand on the door. For the "juvescence of the year," in which He came, marked the beginning of our dispensation, the "depraved May" ever returning with the "flowering judas" of man's answer to the Incarnation. Gerontion: Analysis The poem starts with a foreshadowing. Bitten by flies: Refers to the unhealthy surroundings in the colonies where the European settlers have to undergo severe hardships, "fly-bites. Furthermore, the tiger becomes now a symbol not only of divine wrath but of the power of life within man, the springs of sex which "murder and create.
Because of the loss of his passion he was removed. In the second stanza, Gerontion begins reflecting upon the spiritual poverty of the modern age. He goes on to say; instead of being in the warm rain, swaddling through marshes to fight the enemy, he was in a decayed house. A Coherent Splendor: An American Poetic Renaissance also states that the poem is centered upon the theme of impotence, arguing that old age brings the poet "not wisdom but confirmed decrepitude and impotence. Childs, the poem attempts to present the theme of Christianity from the viewpoint of the modernist individual with various references to the Incarnation and salvation.
These tears: Refers to the tears of Adam after he had eaten the forbidden fruit. Against them is set the "word within a word, unable to speak a word"--the innocent Redeemer, swaddled now in the darkness of the world. . This lady instead of raising herself spiritually, kept busy in calling up spirits which is opposed to the Christian faith. They are all portrayed as regular and common. As she is harvesting her crops, she is singing a sad tune which echoes in the deep valley. Judas was a traitor who betrayed Christ.
He goes on to speak of how whatever history gives usually in vain or in disdain. Courage, heroism, may lead to "unnatural vices. Gerontion too has been driven by the Trade Winds of time "To a sleepy corner. They have lost their path. Weevil: An insect which eats away things. My house is old and decayed. Two earlier versions of the poem can be found, the original typescript of the poem as well as that version with comments by Gerontion as the opening part of The Waste Land, Pound discouraged him: "I do not advise printing Gerontion as preface.
Univ of Massachusetts Press 1996 p. Ian Duncan MacKillop in F. Alliteration: There are many alliterations throughout the poem. Gull: a sea bird. The old man does not like this and so says that he would rather lose them than corrupt them. Time is also altered by allowing past and present to be superimposed, and a series of places and characters connected to various cultures are introduced.
Critical Analysis Title: The title is derived from the Greek word "Geron" which means a little old man. These thoughts along with a thousand small ideas passed through my mind. There is no explicit mention of war here, but it is implied by the time the poem was written; 1920 is just a year after World War I ended. But without is the abyss also, yawning for those who in their twisted course have never found their center. Eliot: an Essay on the American Magus, equates the loss of these senses with the mindset that controls the narrative of the poem. Here I am, an old man in a dry month, Being read to by a boy, waiting for rain.
What forgiveness, one might add, for a man being read his last rites, thinking, if not praying, that we have not reached conclusion, and fearing that the dream to come will make for nothing so cosy as an after dinner sleep. There is hardly any progress in the development of thought. Gerontion's exploration of sinful pleasures takes place in his mind, according to Montgomery, as he can "discover no vital presence in the sinful shell of his body". What is the theme of Gerontion? Why are there two birds in the Solitary Reaper? I an old man, A dull head among windy spaces. By this, he means that in this world, where everything was changing too much and too fast, he was remaining the same, dull. Therefore the Word "Logos", the Word of God, and Jesus Christ remains hidden "in darkness". He first published his poem in 1905 while still in school.
Time is also altered by allowing past and present to be superimposed, and a series of places and characters connected to various cultures are introduced. Repetition: There are a few repetitions in the poem. Eliot's strong belief is that civilization can be saved if it revives its Christian faith and follows the moral values of church. The heroism and crimes the old man speaks of are the ones that were done in the war and in general. Causes of decay of civilization: Gerontion now reflects on the corruption around and the causes thereof. How often are there wet and dry seasons at the equator? I live and decay in a rented house.
